Hi,
i just learned to rip a multichannel sound from my DVD-A and SACD`s.
the question is this- do i want to get DTS or AC3 ?
there is a size difference, AC3 song takes 15MB and DTS takes 50MB to store.
as i believe bitrates are different(450kbps vs 1.5Mbps or something like that)

what is your opinion on which sounds better when it comes to 5.1 music?

to rip ac3 i use "magic dvd ripper"
1. open DVD. copy DVD containing only 'main movie and ac3 sound stream'
2. open copied DVD. rip DVD with settings: 'split by chapter', output format mpeg2(original). thats how i get files track-1.mpg, track-2.mpg etc
3. open each track with VirtualDub-mpeg2. and save track as *.wav. that way it cuts off video from file and i get ac3 sound stream in file track-1.wav etc. then simply change filename to track-1.ac3

to rip DTS i use "SmartRipper"
1. open DVD
2. in track selection select one track only at a time
3. in streaming section select DTS only
4. press start and you get file track-1.dts
5. do the same with other tracks one by one

*if program cant open selected Disc, i simply copy VIDEO_TS folder to HDD, then with magic-iso i make cd image, then mount it on virtual drive and it always works

to playback i use Zoomplayer with installed and settedup 'AC3/DTS source filter/splitter' and 'AC3filter decoder'.

I too wanted to get higher resolution playback in my car and so far my best hope was to find a car headunit that played loseless WMA. I researched Crutchfield up to a certain price point and didn't find any. If you find any let us know. For your situation, the simplest is to buy a car headunit DVD player. If you must rip then converting to loseless multichannel WMA or buying a headunit that plays DVDs and DVD-A (JVC makes one for retail under $1k) may be your best bets.

to rip DTS i use "SmartRipper"
1. open DVD
2. in track selection select one track only at a time
3. in streaming section select DTS only
4. press start and you get file track-1.dts
5. do the same with other tracks one by one

I tried the above steps and all I get is another set of vts files (vob, ifo, etc.), not any .dts files, nor do I see any option to make any. My goal here is to take a DVD-A (The Beatles Love album in this instance) and make an audio CD of DTS files I can play on a DVD player. This isn't working like you said. What am I doing wrong? (I'm using SmartRipper 2.41)

Your terminology is a little confusing since CDs don't have anything to do with DTS.

- Is your goal to create a DTS Music disc (sometimes inaccurately called "DTS CD")? This could be played back by any device/system that can handle DTS music discs. To create a DTS Music disc you need to purchase software that can do it, i.e., SurCode

- Or are you trying to create a DVD that only contains DTS in the DVD files (vob, ifo) etc..? This is what you would do if you were creating an audio only DVD for playback from a DVD player as opposed to demuxing to .dts files (see below).

- Or are you trying to demux so you have just .dts files? If so then I believe regular DVD players won't know what to do with those files if burned to a DVD for playback - but you could use .dts files if playing back using a computer as your playback device. So if trying to demux to .dts files I (or someone else) can probably work on steps/troubleshoot, but maybe include some detail on your intended playback setup as far as hardware (hardware dvd player? dts music disc? analog or s/pdif connection?).

Also just to make sure you're aware, you are getting the audio from the 'normal' portion of the DVD and not the hi-res portion or the DVD-A, which is fine if you are only going for the AC3 or DTS audio.